Caribbean lanternshark

Taxobox
name = Caribbean lanternshark


image_caption =
status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1
trend =
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Chondrichthyes
subclassis = Elasmobranchii
ordo = Squaliformes
familia = Dalatiidae
genus = "Etmopterus"
species = "E. hillianus"
range_

---

range_map_width = 200px
range_map_caption = Range of the Caribbean lanternshark (in blue)
binomial = "Etmopterus hillianus"
binomial_authority = (Poey, 1861)The Caribbean lanternshark, "Etmopterus hillianus", is a shark of the family Dalatiidae found in the eastern and western Atlantic from Virginia to southern Florida, Cuba, Bermuda, Hispanola and St. Kitts, at depths of between 180 and 720 m. Its length is up to 50 cm.

The Caribbean lanternshark inhabits the upper continental and insular slopes, on sandy bottoms. Denticles largely cover the snout, but are not arranged in rows. The second dorsal fin is larger than the first, and the anterior part of both is dark.

Coloration is grey or dark brown above, and black underneath. There is an elongated broad dark mark above and behind the pelvic fins, and another on the caudal peduncle. Reproduction is ovoviviparous, with 4 to 5 pups in a litter.

References

*
* Compagno, Dando, & Fowler, "Sharks of the World", Princeton University Press, New Jersey 2005 ISBN 0-691-12072-2